Spectrum analyzer



Sept. 25, 1951 G, N, KAMM` SPECTRUM ANALYZER Filed May l, 1946 LDUNIU muuu-O vNN INVENTOR AGEORGE N. KAMM ATTORNEY' Patented Sept. Z5, 1951 .t .d

mesne assignments, to the .United States of l America' as represented by the Secretary of the Application May 1, 1946,-seriaiNo. 666,251'

yL'Ihis invention relatesto radio'frequencyciranalyzthe frequency distribution of .the power of pulsed radio frequency sourcesl such as the magnetron of 'a radar set.` Thejpulses from such sources arevery short induration," being onthe order of a fraction of 'a microsecond,` and they are separatedby relativelyv ,long time periods on the order of 50i) or 1000 microseconds.

j The method of Fourier analysis shows that a voltage pulse maybe represented as the summation of the voltages of sine and cosine waves with incremental frequency differences overall ,frequencies from zero to infinity. The amplitude of thesummation of lthese voltages asa function ofnfrequen'cy is the spectrum function.

In principlethe spectrum analyzer operates as a narrow band superheterodyne receiver sweeping through a region of frequency including the radio frequency signal to be observed, The display of thespectrum is made on a cathode raytubewth frequency along the horizontal axis and the out# put of the receiver, which is approximately proportional to power, along .the vertical axis. A radiovifrequency signal therefore appears as a vertical deflection at a horizontal position corresponding tofthe frequency rof'tliesignal.V The presentation maytherefore; beI considered as al plot, of power against frequency. Ihe receiver, it had aV suiiiciently widellbandwidth to include the totalran'ge o f the spectrum function, ,would reproducetheoriginal form of Ya' radio frequency pulse; Actually,4 the intermediate frequency bandwidth is made very'narro'w and the receiverv responds not 'to the entire spectrum function but' thenjrectied in a square law," detector gives a pulseon the cathode ray tube screen'proportional tof`r the square of the spectrum function at the.l particular frequency ,to which `thev receiverisv tuned.k

u As the spectrum analyzer is slowly swept `in fre-` quencyfby sweeping its local'oscillatorfrequency, aseies of pulses appear on the screenfresembling a. picket `fence, the envelope of the transients representing theV frequency distributionof the' powerr in the l:radio frequencyA pulse.

Hererfvre "the .usual ,arrangement Qi-.Eede

sdolaims. (01."250-39) frequency components been as follows: the crystal mixer was located at the center of a section of waveguide; radio frequency pulses were picked up by suitable means at one Vend of the section of waveguide; and the local oscillator power was injected into the other end. A xed attenuator was positioned in the section of waveguide, :between the local oscillator and the crystal mixer and a variable attenuator between the radio frequency input and the crystal mixer. `An absorption type frequency meter was coupled to the section of waveguide between the crystal mixer and the local oscillator attenuator to absorb a fraction of the local oscillator power at a particular frequency.

-. The dip Vin power as it appeared in the output o'f the crystal mixer was differentiated and applied to the cathode ray tube indicator to give afrequcncy indication thereon.

:The broad frequency band qualities'of any spectrum analyzer are usually limited by the crystal mixer. In the above arrangement of radio frequency components it is extremely difficult to design and build a crystal mixer which has broad frequency band characteristics.

A* In the'fabove arrangement, the impedance of the crystal mixer cannot be matched to that of thewaveguide so that not all of the power inc'ident on the crystal mixer is used therein. This means thata small attenuator must be used for thejlocaloscillator to allow sufficient power to reachthe crystal mixer. This, in turn, means that any reflections from the frequency meter do notA meet with a very large attenuation and they adverselyl affect the frequency of the local oscillator.

l Furthermore, reflections from the radio frequency input caused by a pick-up horn looking into a variable impedance, for example, are not suflicientlyjattenuated so that they too affect the frequency ofthe local oscillator and in some instancesstop it from oscillating.

`ITheV fact' that the crystal mixer can not be matched to the waveguide also means that some of' the radio frequency power being analyzed is not used in thewcrystal mixer. sensitivity Vof the spectrum analyzer for very weak signals is limited.

' Finally, the frequency meter only absorbs power fromrthe local oscillator and there is no dip in .theradio frequencyrpower being analyzed.

)Thus the frequency meter dial reading needs tobecorrected by the amount of the intermediate frequency to give the frequency of the power being n edf'on the cathoderay tube indicator.

in spectrum analyzers hasY Therefore, the

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers which makes them useable over a broad frequency band.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a circuit which will reduce the effect of reflections from the frequency meter on the local oscillator.

It is still another object of this invention to provide such a circuit which will reduce the effect of reliections from the input on the local oscillator.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a circuit which has small' attenuation of the radio frequency power being analyzed.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide such a circuit in which the frequency meter absorbs power from both the local oscillator and the radio frequency input.

These and other objects will become apparent upon consideration of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which is a block diagram of one embodiment of this invention.

The drawing discloses a waveguide section I into one end of which the radio frequency power under analysis is coupled. The other end of waveguide section I6' is coupled to a crystal mixer II. Calibrated attenuator I2 is positioned in waveguide section Ill adjacent to the end into which the radio frequency power is coupled. Waveguide section I3 is coupled to waveguide section I6 by directional coupler I4. One end of waveguide section I3 is terminatedin matched load I5. Local oscillator I6 is of the velocity modulated type and is coupled to the other end of waveguide section I3. Adjustable attenuator I1 is positioned in waveguide section I3 between local oscillator I6 and directional coupler I4. Frequency meter I3 is coupled to waveguide section Il! between directional coupler I4 and crystal mixer II. The output of crystal mixer II which represents the frequency difference between the input radio frequency and the local oscillator frequency, is amplified by intermediate frequency amplifier I9 and detected by square law detector 20. Video amplier 2I ampliiies. the. output of square law detector 2li and applies it to the vertical'deflection plates of cathode ray tube indi.- cator 22. mixer II is also differentiated by differentiating circuit 24 and then fedv directly to video amplifier 2 I. This transient when introduced on thescreen alongv with the spectrum provides a convenient frequency marker. Sawtooth sweep circuit 23 applies a sweep voltage to the horizontal deflec tion plates. of cathode ray tube indicator 22 and also to the repeller of local oscillator I6v to cause sweeping of the frequency of local oscillator I6.

The characteristics of directional coupler I4 are such that it will pass energy in a forward direction but offer extremely high attenuation. to the transmission of energy in a reverse. direc,- tion. To understand this phenomenon., consider directional coupler I4 on the drawing. Energy from the local oscillator I6 coupled into Waveguide section I0 along path acd will arrive at point d in phase with energy coupled alongV path abd and the sum of the two will be propagated in the forward direction indicated by the arrow in waveguide section IIJ. On the other hand, the dimensions of directional coupler I4 are such that energy arriving at point c along path ac will be 180 degrees out of phase. with energy arriving at point c along path abdc and the two The crystal current output of crystall 4 will cancel resulting in substantially no energy being propagated in the reverse direction in waveguide section IU toward calibrated attenuator I2.

Sawtooth sweep circuit 23 provides a sweep voltage which, in addition to sweeping the electron beam" of cathode ray tube indicator 22, causes the frequency of local oscillator I6 to be swept because of its sweeping repeller voltage. Both the -swept local oscillator output and the pulsed radio frequency input are impressed upon crystal mixer II, the magnitude of the two being adjustable by means of attenuators I2 and I1. The frequency of' local oscillator I6 is swept at a low rate compared with the pulse repetition frequency of the radio frequency pulses being analyzed.. The bandwidth of intermediate frequency amplifier I8 is very narrow so that the instantaneous frequency of local oscillator I6 at the time of successive radio frequency pulse combines with successively higher frequency sections of the radio frequency pulse spectrum to give an intermediate frequency output passable by intermediate frequency amplifier I9. The intermediate frequency output is detected and amplified and applied to the vertical deflection plates of cathode ray tube indicator 22 to produce the cathode ray tube indicator presentation described earlier in this specification.

The frequency meter absorbs power from both the local oscillator I6 and the radio frequency input. This results in a dip in the presentation on cathode ray tube indicator 22 at both the local oscillator frequency and at the radio frequency of the input.`

With this arrangement of components in the radio frequency circuit in. which the crystal mixer is at the termination of the waveguide section, it is possible to obtain both broad banding and impedance matching with very little trouble using standard crystal mixer designs. i spectrum analyzer using this improved radio frequency circuit will be useable over a broad frequency band. It will be relatively unaffected by reflections from the frequency meter because the.

crystal mixer I I will absorb. all the power of local oscillator I6 incident upon it and the combined attenuation of power set attenuator II and directional coupler I4 can be great enough to reduce reections. to. negligible amplitude before they get back to local oscillator I6. Furthermore, substantially all of the radio frequency input will be utilized by the crystal mixer I I and the sensitivity of the analyzer for small signals will be` improved. Because of the high reverse attenuation of the directional coupler I4, reflections from the input will have negligibleeifect upon the local oscillator I6. Fina11y,.since there is a dip in both the power of local oscillator I6 and the radio frequency input power, there will be two indications on cathode ray tube indicator 22. One will occur as in previous spectrum analyzers. when the frequency meter I8 is at the frequency of the local oscillator I6 and will' appear in the base line of the presentation on cathode ray tube indicator 22'. The other will occur when the frequency meter I8 is at the frequency of the input power' and will appear as a dip in the envelope of' the pulses on the presentation. The latter indication` is an advantage in that the dial reading of the frequency meter I8 does not have to `bel Therefore, a.

What, is claimed is:

1. An improved radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a section of waveguide adapted to receive radio frequency power at one end, a mixer terminating the other end of said section of waveguide, a local oscillator, means including a directional coupler for coupling said local oscillator to said section of waveguide, and means for absorbing a portion of both said radio frequency power and the power from said local oscillator at a certain frequency, said means being calibrated and variable.

2. An improved radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a section of waveguide adapted to receive radio frequency power at one end, a crystal mixer terminating the other end of said section of waveguide, a velocity modulated local oscillator, means including a directional coupler for coupling said local oscillator to said section of waveguide, and an absorbtion type frequency meter coupled to said section of waveguide to act upon said radio frequency power and the power from said local oscillator.

3. An improved radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a first section of waveguide, a crystal mixer terminating one end of said first section of waveguide, means at the other end of said first section of waveguide for injecting radio frequency power therein, said means capable of providing variable attenuation to said radio frequency power, a second section of waveguide, a directional coupler for coupling said first section of waveguide to said second section, a matched load at one end of said second section of waveguide, a velocity modulated local oscillator, means at the other end of said second section of waveguide for injecting the power of said local oscillator therein, said means being capable of providing variable attenuation of said power from said local oscillator, and a frequency meter coupled to said first section of waveguide to act upon said radio frequency power and said power from said local oscillator.

4. An improved radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a first section of waveguide adapted to receive radio frequency power at one end, a crystal mixer coupled to the other end of said first section of waveguide, a second section of waveguide, a directional coupler for coupling said first section of waveguide to said second section, a calibrated attenuator 10- cated in said first section of waveguide between the source of said radio frequency power and said directional coupler, an absorbtion type frequency meter coupled to said first section of waveguide between said crystal mixer and said directional coupler, a matched load terminating said second section of waveguide at one end, a local oscillator of the velocity modulated type coupled to said second section of waveguide at the other end, and an adaptable calibrated attenuator located in said second section of waveguide between said local oscillator and said directional coupler.

5. A radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a section of Wave guide, means for energizing said section of wave guide with radio frequency power at one end thereof, mixing circuit means terminating the other end of said section of wave guide, a local oscillator, means for coupling said local oscillator to said section of wave guide, said last-mentioned means including a power attenuator and a directional coupler, and a variable, frequency-calibrated device in said wave-guide section for absorbing power from said local oscillator and from said radio frequency power energizing means at a predetermined frequency.

6. A radio frequency circuit for spectrum analyzers comprising, a section of wave guide, means for introducing a radio frequency signal to be analyzed into said section of wave guide, a local oscillator, means for directionally coupling said local oscillator to said Section of wave guide, and a variable, frequency-calibrated device for absorbing power from said section of wave guide at a predetermined frequency.

GEORGE N. KAMJVI.

No references cited. 

